Counting Down
by Celasi
Summary: How did Vongola Decimo fall for 'The No. 1 Hitman? 10 drabble collections of Tsuna and Reborn and the build up to a beautiful (yet highly dysfunctional) relationship.


**Tenth of his title.**

_1._

Tsuna didn't know when it stopped but it did. The clenching sensation he got in his chest, the sweaty palms, the nervous stutter, all the side effects that came with being around Kokyo had left him. And he didn't know if he was happy or not. At least he didn't have to worry about ruining his relationship with his Sun guardian and it made meeting up with Chrome when she was with the girls a lot easier but, at the same time it felt like he was finally leaving his normal life behind, his last dream of normality gone.

_2._

Verde had figured out a way speed up their aging. It probably wasn't the safest thing to do and if the scientist wasn't as certain as he was that it would all be perfectly fine Tsuna would suspect that there would be some terrible health effects that came with it. But if danger and the risk of adverse health effects was ever anything to deter the Arcobaleno they wouldn't be where they were today. And so, desperate to finally free themselves from their infant prisons, the Arcobaleno lined up as they were administered shots of a liquid sickly bright green in colour and told they would reach the age of 20 in approximately 5 weeks.

_3._

Tsuna found it far more entertaining than he'd ever willing admit to watch Reborn grow. At first it seemed much the same. The Hitman (who had recently reached the age of 6) seemed to be making his way towards puberty snarky and outspoken as ever. It was only once he hit puberty something seemed to go wrong. And for those glorious 7 days in which the hitman made his way through ages 12, 14 and 13 Tsuna was surprised to hear barely a word from him, after all who would've guessed that the Greatest Hitman in the World' voice took a long and painfully embarrassing time to break. And lets not get started on the awkward teen years.

_4._

Reborn as an Adult (even only three years older than Tsuna in appearance) was terrifying. If Tsuna thought the baby was freakishly strong he didn't know what to think when Reborn 'Accidently' sent him flying through walls with a simple kick. His excuse of 'forgetting his own strength' wasn't even something the Dame-Tsuna of 5 years ago would believe. On the bright side however Tsuna felt a lot more comfortable walking around Namimori with him (no more risks of people reporting him for child neglect). On the down side it generally enticed hordes of Fangirls to follow them. (Which frustrated Tsuna greatly for reasons beyond his understanding.)

_5._

Tsuna did not just blush. Nor did he stutter. And he certainly did not just subconsciously begin checking his tutor out. It was a mistake really. He just happened to exit the bathroom at the same time Tsuna was looking to enter. The fact that he was wearing only a towel and Tsuna may have stared just a little too long meant nothing. He was a good looking man and it was only natural for him to be curious. (Curious about what? Some small part of his mind whispered.) If it was Yamamoto, Gokudera or any of his other guy friends his reaction would've been the same (but you have seen them in the same state and it wasn't. The same little part of his mind whispered.) Also he blushes and stutters because of a lot of thing, it was hardly any different this time. (You haven't done it for years. Tsuna learned to ignore that part of his mind)

_6._

They were playing truth or dare. Reborn was standing in the corner keeping a steady eye on things and Haru had just completed a dare which involved her saying her whole life story completely backwards (everyone with am I here now) courtesy of Ryohei. It was her turn to dare someone next and she rounded on Tsuna.

'Truth or Dare Tsuna?'

'Truth.'

'Who would you most like to date in this room.'

In reply to this Tsuna began choking on the soda he had just been drinking violently and Gokudera began ripping into Haru for 'Trying to kill the Tenth.' The game had been forgotten in favour of a large argument and for once Tsuna was grateful as he didn't know what he'd do if he actually had to say the first name that came to mind.

_7._

Tsuna thought long and hard about the reasons why he thought the name he had (Which he should've known wasn't a good thing to do from his past experiences) and came to the conclusion that the only logical explanation was that Tsuna admired the man and that the only reason he came to mind was because Tsuna was not thinking of himself but who anyone in general would like to date most from the room. (Also Tsuna's life would be down the toilet in an instant if he had anything even resembling romantic feelings towards Reborn of all people.)

_8._

Tsuna was comfortable. Very comfortable. He didn't want to think about why he was comfortable. Or how he got into the position he was currently in, he just wanted to snuggle more into the nice warm heat that was surrounding him. Or beside him. He wasn't really coherent at that point. Though soon enough, as soon as the change in his breathing was noticed, he was promptly shaken out of his hazy post nap mind and found himself lying on the grass with a smirking Reborn looking over him.

'What happened' he asked. Not quite comprehending what was going on.

'Tch. You managed to go into dying will mode without the help of the pills but after going out of it you passed out Dame-Tsuna. I had to carry your lazy ass back so we could home in time for Mamas cooking.'

_9._

Tsuna had a dream. It was not a nice dream. It was not a well appreciated dream. And he would happily drop dead on the spot if anyone else in the world found out about this particular dream. It involved him and his tutor and his tutor coming up real close to him and bleh! He shouldn't think about it because thinking about it meant acknowledging it existence and that was not something he was willing to do...as an afterthought he tried justifying to himself that it was just a kiss and could mean anything (Once again that little voice whispered that 'just a kiss' did not equal a god-knows-how-long-make-out-session. Tsuna seriously considered asking Fon if he knew any meditation that could help him quiet that voice.)

_10._

Tsuna knew he had to acknowledge something but he was by no means prepared to do that. It took him long enough to acknowledge that it was time he acknowledged something. The dreams, the thoughts, the feelings. No matter how much he wished that meant nothing he knew they couldn't really mean nothing. But it still didn't he was prepared to even the think the words to himself. It didn't mean he was ready to realise the consequences of what was happening. And it certainly didn't mean he was ready to accept he had a crush on Reborn.

* * *

**A/N:** _Since it doesn't feel very clear next chapter will be 9 drabbles under a different title (I'm thinking of 'Nine Solutions) and then after that there will be eight and so on and so forth until the 10th chapter where they'll be only one. Basically this should be the longest chapter. __  
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_Constructive Criticism always appreciated. Was Tsuna OCC? was anyone else OOC? Do tell! This should update pretty quickly 'cause writing drabbles is fun and easy :)_

~ Celasi


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